Petahasher, not sure about that, I'm confident I could do this for 300$.
Something like this is really only a couple of scripts and some stuff to make it reliable.
You might be getting overcharged

Hey,

I see your posting for the forum scraping / DM bot.
It does not look too difficult. I am sure I can deliver it quickly.

I am a professional software developer, all my code is well made and well documented.
For something like this my initial quote would be ~300$ though that might change depending on project specifics.

Additionally I am always willing to help you debug or troubleshoot the bot if you run into issues.

I look forward to working with you,
Robert

Hey, have done many projects similar to what you want.
DM me to discuss specifics or to get a quote.
Will give you a discount as I'm new here.